1. Field of Endeavor
The present invention relates to laser and more particularly to a laser beam dump.
2. State of Technology
U.S. Pat. No. 4,864,098 for a high powered beam dump to Robert E. Basanese, et al. issued Sep. 5, 1989 provides the following information, xe2x80x9cHigh power lasers, such as, for example, carbon dioxide lasers, are used for cutting and performing other operations on workpieces. The high power laser and workpiece must be carefully aligned to obtain the desired accuracy of the operation to be performed on the workpiece. During the time that the workpiece and laser are being aligned, the high power laser beam must be shuttered off from contact with the workpiece. The power of the laser beam must therefore be absorbed without damaging the shuttering-off apparatus. Typically, in previous laser shuttering techniques, a mirror has been placed in front of the beam to deflect the beam into an area away from the workpiece and outside of the beam path of the laser during realignment.xe2x80x9d
U.S. Pat. No. 5,793,012 for fresnel reflection termination system for high powered laser systems to Angel Luis Ortiz, Jr. issued Aug. 11, 1998 provides the following information, xe2x80x9cWithin high powered laser beams (systems of 0.1 kW and above), Fresnel reflections become a problem. This is especially true for laser systems that incorporate optical fiber injection. Such Fresnel reflections have an extremely high frequency, and enough power to burn materials such as plastics, paper, wire, insulation, etc. Typical power levels from Fresnel reflections range in the order of 4% of the main incident power or 80 Watts for a 2 kW beams and up to 240 Watts for a 6 kW beam. These reflections can cause serious damage to the surrounding hardware and environment if they are not captured and appropriately terminated. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved high power laser system which would terminate Fresnel reflections thereby preventing costly damage to the environment or hardware surrounding the laser system.xe2x80x9d
U.S. Pat. No. 5,631,767 for method and apparatus for laser beam management to Timothy J. Dodge issued May 20, 1997 provides the following information, xe2x80x9cWorking with such an xe2x80x9cinvisiblexe2x80x9d laser beam presents problems both at low and high power levels. First, at any power level, the exact location of a laser beam generally must be known at almost all times. The beam""s location with respect to the object that it may be intended to strike is often critical to the process, experiment, or technique being carried out. More importantly, at high power levels, stray beams can cause serious damage to persons and equipment. For example, when dealing with high powered infrared lasers, a reflected beam with as little as 3% or 4% of the original power of the beam is still capable of burning many common objects, and causing serious bodily harm to persons. Accordingly, lower power invisible beams must be identified, and higher power beams must be both located and controlled (xe2x80x9cmanagedxe2x80x9d) in some fashion that prevents them from damaging surrounding objects and persons. One aspect of such management is referred to as xe2x80x9cdumpingxe2x80x9d a laser beam and the apparatus used to carry it out is also referred to as a xe2x80x9claser dumpxe2x80x9d or a xe2x80x9cbeam dump.xe2x80x9d The theoretical goal of a beam dump is to absorb the laser light and its associated power and transfer or convert it into another more manageable and less hazardous form.xe2x80x9d
Features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description. Applicants are providing this description, which includes drawings and examples of specific embodiments, to give a broad representation of the invention. Various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this description and by practice of the invention. The scope of the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed and the invention covers all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims.
The present invention provides a laser beam dump. The laser beam dump is positioned in a housing. An absorbing glass plate means is operatively connected to the housing. A heat sync means for extracting heat from the absorbing glass plate means is operatively connected to the housing and operatively connected to the absorbing glass plate means. In one embodiment, a first absorbing glass plate is operatively connected to the housing, a first heat sync to extract heat from the first absorbing glass plate is operatively connected to the housing and operatively connected to the first absorbing glass plate, at least one additional absorbing glass plate is operatively connected to the housing, and at least one additional heat sync to extract heat from the at least one additional absorbing glass plate is operatively connected to the housing and operatively connected to the at least one additional absorbing glass plate.
The laser beam dump provides a method of controlling a laser beam. The method includes the steps of directing a laser beam into an absorbing glass plate and extracting heat from the absorbing glass plate. In one embodiment the method comprises the steps of directing a laser beam into a first absorbing glass plate, extracting heat from the first absorbing glass plate, directing the laser beam into at least one additional absorbing glass plate, and extracting heat from the at least one additional absorbing glass plate. In one embodiment the first heat sync to extract heat from the first absorbing glass plate is a fluid. The fluid in one embodiment is water. In one embodiment the first heat sync to extract heat from the first absorbing glass plate is a heat sync material. In one embodiment a circulating fluid is used as the first heat sync and as the at least one additional heat sync.
In one embodiment the system is used as a power meter. A first temperature probe is positioned in the circulating fluid at the at least one additional heat sync, a second temperature probe is positioned in the circulating fluid at the first heat sync, and a flow meter is positioned in the circulating fluid. The temperature of the circulating fluid proximate the at least one additional heat sync and the temperature of the circulating fluid proximate the first absorbing glass plate are compared. The flow rate of the circulating fluid is measured using a flow meter. The temperature difference and the flow rate are used to calculate the total laser energy deposited.
The invention is susceptible to modifications and alternative forms. Specific embodiments are shown by way of example. It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the particular forms disclosed. The invention covers all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims.